It's Alpaca Game
by MotherPiglet
Summary: "Sonoda Umi was beyond mortified. The girl beside her just looked at her, smiled her usual angelic smile, and continued playing the game." In which Kotori discovers the game called Alpaca Evolution.


One. Two. Three. Every arrow the girl shot pierced the center of the target. Umi's thoughts were as peaceful as ever; No "Love Arrow Shoot!" scenarios, no possibilities of what goes on during romantic parfait dates involving the two mom friends of the group, and definitely, no replays of her loss during that one card game match.

She was ready to shoot her last arrow, her eyes gazing fiercely at the target and her body assuming the correct stance and position.

That was until she heard it.

A jolly and melodious tune accompanied by what the archer assumed to be sounds of somebody receiving a fatal blow. The tune reminded her of green, grassy fields during the spring season, minus the punching sounds of course.

It was strange though, she thought, as she was the only person in the archery range.

Everybody had gone home, and she was the sole member of the club remaining. It then occurred to Umi that the person watching her could possibly be either Kotori or Honoka.

She shrugged off her thoughts, and continued to aim for the target. The music continued to play, and this time, a high-pitched sound repetitively played along with it.

Umi was ready to release her arrow when whomever was watching her decided to scream in victory at the wrong time, causing Umi to squeak in surprise and release her arrow.

She missed the target, just like how she did when Honoka's proposal to become idols interfered with her state of mind. Her right eye slightly twitched. What just transpired irked her to some degree, and her curiosity definitely (albeit figuratively) killed a cat.

Strangely enough, the tune nor the punching and high-pitched sounds were nowhere to be heard after the incident. She laid her bow and her quiver down on the floor, and turned around to see Kotori standing a few meters behind her, wearing an apologetic smile.

"Sorry for that, Umi."

Kotori then giggled nervously, but Umi tried to reassure her.

"It's fine, Kotori. It's not your fault. Besides, it probably is time for me to wrap this up and head home."

It was then that Umi noticed that the girl in front of her was holding a phone in her hands. Things were making sense now, and she realized that the sounds she heard earlier were coming from Kotori's phone.

It totally made sense to her that her childhood friend would play games that had an upbeat and jolly background music but what kind of game were those punching sounds and those high-pitched sounds from?

"Do you want me to help you pack up?"

Kotori's voice startled and woke Umi up from her trance, causing the older girl to produce a slightly strange reply.

"W-what? Yes! No! I mean…"

She was flailing her arms around at this point, her frustration building up.

She attempted to reply again, only to sound like a stuttering mess.

"S-sure, Kotori. You may h-help."

Kotori giggled at her friend's antics.

This side of Umi never failed to amuse her, and she has always succeeded in making the other girl flustered.

"Thanks, Umi."

The said girl was confused for a moment, hearing Kotori thank her when she was supposed to be vice versa.

"No, I should be the one thanking you."

They then proceeded to pack up and clean the archery range in silence.

The two of them finished, and they walked out of the school gates. As they were walking home, Kotori retrieved her phone from her pocket and the tune Umi heard earlier was audible once again. The bird-like girl was humming along to the game's music, and the punching sounds followed by the high-pitched sounds soon returned.

Umi was even more curious this time. She slightly craned her neck to the left to get a view of what Kotori was playing. What she saw was not what she expected.

There was a muscular and bipedal orange alpaca that stood out among all the normal alpacas that were walking around on the green, grassy field. To say that Umi was confused was an understatement.

Her confusion escalated further when Kotori tapped on one of the alpacas. The bipedal alpaca then proceeded to smash its fellow brethren.

Kotori tapped on the knocked-out alpaca once more and the clearly mutated alpaca absorbed it while it seemed to struggle and scream internally. Wait what?

Sonoda Umi was beyond mortified. The girl beside her just looked at her, smiled her usual angelic smile, and continued playing the game.

The mutated alpaca absorbed another one of its kind again, and the experience bar at the top left corner seemed to be full. The alpaca's form changed, and this time, it had four arms.

That was when Umi decided to ask Kotori what exactly that game was.

"Kotori… What… What exactly is that?"

A gleam appeared in both Kotori's eyes as she explained it to Umi.

"Oh, this? It's called Alpaca Evolution! The game's goal is to absorb alpacas to become the cutest alpaca ever! Isn't it great?"

Umi was beginning to question Kotori's definition of cute at this point.

"Honoka introduced me to this game and I just can't resist! Aaahh, the alpaca is just so cute~!"

Kotori then paused.

"O-oh! Sorry for rambling, Umi!"

Her expression turned apologetic again, just like how it did a while ago. Umi felt the need to reassure Kotori once again.

"No, it's fine. Although the game is a bit… Strange, I like it when I see you talking about something you genuinely enjoy."

Umi flashed Kotori a gentle and soft smile that was enough to set her cheeks on fire and her heart pounding. To think that Umi would say those things to her despite her getting excited over a mere game.

Her blue-haired companion didn't seem to notice it, though. They continued to walk home as a comfortable silence enveloped them until Kotori thrusted her phone into Umi's hands. As she expected, the older girl seemed confused.

"Here, Umi. You can play the game if you want."

As odd as the game was, Umi wanted to see that gleeful expression and that bright smile on Kotori's face.

She took the offer and began to play the game for the remaining time. The game was simple; knock alpacas out, absorb them, and try to evolve.

It was a repetitive process, and the time flew quickly as she didn't even know how long she had been playing until she realized that she stood in front of Kotori's house. Umi then returned Kotori's phone to her.

Kotori walked to her doorstep and turned around to face Umi.

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

Umi nodded, and Kotori spoke once again.

"Thank you for walking home with me today!"

Umi's face lit up as she heard those words.

"Sure. Anything for you, Kotori."

She watched her childhood friend enter the house and she began walking towards the direction of her own home.

It was then that she thought that maybe the game wasn't so bad at all. In fact, she got to know something new about Kotori. Strangely, her image of the younger girl didn't shatter at all.

Suddenly, an idea made its way into her ever-brilliant mind. With a fulfilled and determined look on her face, Umi took a detour and headed towards the Homura Bakery. She planned to thank Honoka for introducing Kotori to Alpaca Evolution. Umi made a mental note not to scold Honoka as much over the next few days as she entered the shop.

* * *

 **AN:** This old story was once published on my now inactive Tumblr account (kingpiglettherollingpig). I just uploaded it here so that I have a backup of this fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed it, though! Bye bye!


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